Aïn Sefra

Aïn Sefra, town, western Algeria. It is situated in the Saharan Atlas Mountains, 28 miles (45 km) east of the border with Morocco. The town lies in a broad valley between Mount Aïssa and Mount Mekter, on either side of the usually dry Wadi Aïn Sefra.

Aïn Sefra was founded in 1881 as a French garrison town. The former European quarter in the town, rebuilt after a disastrous flood in 1904, is clustered around the railway station on the north bank of the wadi. An iron bridge leads to the southern section of the town, which contains a former French military post and its neo-Moorish barracks. The oldest part of the town, with its traditional walled gardens, lies to the southwest. Aïn Sefra’s market deals in sheep, wool, skins, and salt taken there by nomadic Berbers. Pop. (2008) 47,415.